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EU climate change draft adopted, lower cap beneficial for Poland

A draft reform of Europe’s emissions trading system (ETS) has been adopted by the European Parliament, with MEPs from coal-dependent Poland helping soften the rules.

The European Parliament’s environment committee had proposed that a cap on emissions be decreased by 2.4 percent each year. But Polish MEPs and the European People’s Party Group, the largest political alliance in the European Parliament, demanded it remain unchanged at 2.2 percent.

This will maintain a slower rate of emissions reductions, protecting Poland’s industry and energy sector by reducing the potential cost of emissions allowances.

The emissions trading system is the cornerstone of the EU’s climate change strategy. Working on the principal of cap-and-trade, it sets a decreasing limit on greenhouse gas emissions and permits companies to trade emissions allowances.

The draft reforms adopted in the European Parliament on Wednesday set out plans for achieving the EU’s aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

The adopted reform will now be discussed by the European Union’s 28 member states and the European Commission.